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[Morroian]

 

I think the Tevinters are very interesting too, particularly in contrast with attitudes toward magic (and, interwoven with that, attitudes toward slavery) in the rest of Thedas. It sets them up to be big obvious blood magic villains, which of course instantly makes me want to grab onto that and try for a more detailed (not necessarily more sympathetic, but more detailed) exploration of how and why all that stuff works.

 

Hi congrats on the book its a very enjoyable read.

 

I just wanted to say if anyone from Bioware is here that I personally would love a novel from Liane using the above premise.

[LianeMerciel]

Hey! Hey! I also loved the book. It was a huge lore fest of fun, although I felt like some of the characters were a bit spartan.

 

That being said, Amadis is a fantastic character. She isn't all goody-goody, or evil to a fault. She's pragmatic, smart and (I'd say), has got a great 'wistful' quality by the end of the book. Reimas' story about her father is fantastic of course, (I was really tired of the "my family member became an abomination" stories, which felt overused to me).

Spoiler

And the hints to Orlais' Wardens being out of contact finally answers my questions to whether all Wardens are bad in DA:I, apparently they have an enemy offshoot just as Templars and mages do. One question though: What exactly is Caronel? We see him casting spells, but he fights with a sword, am I right? Is he a battlemage, arcane warrior, knight enchanter? Or do I have it wrong, and he's like a rogue or something? Bonus question: Is Garahel a rogue?

 

Thanks!

re: characters -- yeah, that's probably the thing I would most have liked to change in a perfect world. The Fourth Blight characters I'm satisfied with; to the extent they come off as spartan, that is largely a deliberate design choice. Being involved in an intense, all-consuming war for years on end tends to sandblast away a lot of the more delicate aspects of one's personality, and so the way in which those characters were written was meant to echo the circumstances they were in. Isseya doesn't get to have many attachments or hobbies or outside interests; there's no room for that in her life. There's only the Blight. It takes everything away from her on a small personal scale as well as the big world-eating scale -- and while she's the most extreme example, the same thing happens to everyone around her. So that part is more or less intentional.

 

With respect to the modern-day characters, though, I just ran out of time. Because of deadline pressure, and because I'm not a fast writer, the secondary storyline for LF (Valya and co.) didn't get as much development as I would have liked. In a perfect world I'd have had another month to spend on them, and their chapters would have been longer and more complex. As is, that's probably the one big thing I'd like to be able to wave a magic wand and go back and change.

 

re: class specializations:

 

Spoiler

Caronel is an Arcane Warrior, although I reserve the right to totally retcon the crap out of that if it turns out that Knight Enchanter is a better fit for the character. At the time I wrote LF, however, Knight Enchanter wasn't out there yet, so his original conception is/was Arcane Warrior.

 

Garahel is a rogue only because you have to be a rogue to get the cool archery skills. But yes, he's a rogue with a heavy archery specialization build.

[Griogro]

I want to thank you for including a genderfluid character in the book, as someone who is genderfluid myself it meant a lot to me. I think this was probably the first book I have ever read a genderfluid character in it while not being about that character being genderfluid. It was refreshing to see it simply being part of someones character instead of being this whole big thing that the entire plot revolves around. While such books are important, I think that having representation of this sort is important as well.
So I want to thank you again for including Lisme.

[HereticDante]

Hey, I just finished Last Flight, loved it, especially the war memoir style narrative. The fall of Antiva City particularly stayed with me. The last scene with Amadis & Isseya was really moving too.

 

One trivia question I have, Isseya mentions talking to the Champion of Kirkwall but I thought Hawke was the first Champion from Kirkwall? I remember the Champion of Starkhaven was active in fighting the fourth blight, was it meant to be the Champion of Starkhaven and it was an editing error?

[Kantr]

Hey, I just finished Last Flight, loved it, especially the war memoir style narrative. The fall of Antiva City particularly stayed with me. The last scene with Amadis & Isseya was really moving too.

 

One trivia question I have, Isseya mentions talking to the Champion of Kirkwall but I thought Hawke was the first Champion from Kirkwall? I remember the Champion of Starkhaven was active in fighting the fourth blight, was it meant to be the Champion of Starkhaven and it was an editing error?

Yeah, Hawke was the first one to be nominated for kirkwall

[Ekliane]

Just wanted to let a little feedback here (as well as on Titan Book's email) to say I really enjoyed this story with griffons in it. It doesn't feel out of place, it's even filled with incredible little details that makes it as lovely to read as Mr Gaider or Weekles' previous books (yeah, gotta read 'em all, even if french translation seems very far away). Thanks a lot for finally quench of bit of my curiosity about the riders and open a door I would have hate to see closed. In other words, merci Miss Merciel from a devoted orlesian reader.

 

PS : a special mention for Lisme, because I don't want to give away too much nor make a huge insipid review, but it really warmed my heart to see this character. I don't know quite why, but I loved it. Might be the something along the line of "never letting anybody defines who you are" beautifully phrased in the book.

[LianeMerciel]

So I want to thank you again for including Lisme.

 

You're very welcome! I'm so happy that character worked out. The fan reception for Lisme has been incredibly heartening. I really didn't think Lisme was going to get this kind of reception -- it's been a tremendous surprise to me, but a wonderful one.

[LianeMerciel]

One trivia question I have, Isseya mentions talking to the Champion of Kirkwall but I thought Hawke was the first Champion from Kirkwall? I remember the Champion of Starkhaven was active in fighting the fourth blight, was it meant to be the Champion of Starkhaven and it was an editing error?

 

This is an error. You're correct, Hawke is the first Champion of Kirkwall.

 

I don't recall whether I made this mistake intentionally (by overlooking the Codex entry that specifies that Hawke was the first one) or whether I just had a brain glitch because I'd been replaying/rewatching DA2 for "research purposes" (<-- the fact that playing video games for "research" is actually a true statement will never stop making me laugh) and wrote "Champion of Kirkwall" instead of "Champion of Starkhaven" because I had that foremost in my mind at the time.

 

But in either case that is a mistake and it should be Starkhaven.

 

Nice catch! If I ever do another DA book I'm going to have to recruit my beta readers from this board. You guys miss NOTHING.

[LianeMerciel]

Question: Is the new Warden-Commander of Vigil's Keep supposed to be the protagonist of Awakening or is it a completely new character?

 

Ooh.

 

Uh, this is going to have to be a weaselly non-answer answer: It is ambiguous!

 

(Sorry, I can't say any more than that about that one. I would if I could.)

[Giffygas]

Just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to write the book, I really enjoyed it. THE perfect ending to a book!

[MissOuJ]

I just finished reading the book (like, ten minutes ago) and in my opinion, it's the best DA book I've read (actually, it's one of the best fantacy/fiction books I've read in a long time). Also, it's the first DA book that has made me cry.

 

The way you've managed to bring your charaters to life is amazing! And the discription of the Fourth Blight was just harrowing and really intense, and it really drove in how horrible the Blights are. The action sections had a very immersing flow to them, the dialogue was natural and in-character, the characterisations, the way you described the environments... just superb. There's just not enough superlatives to express how much I enjoyed this book, its story and the characters.

 

I'm buying The River King's Road the moment I get the chance.

[CronoDragoon]

Loved the book, though I did get a sense of what Liane mentioned about running out of time for the current storyline. It barely has enough time to establish personalities for the characters and mention several important points for Inquisition (what are the Wardens doing, Civil War in Orlais, Mage/templar conflict) before we need to move into Valya contemplating what to do about Isseya's secret, which she learns quite a bit before the end but is hidden from the reader. 

 

I will say that Reimas's story is, in my opinion, the most well-written part of the book, if not the best. The direct nature in which she details her father's fate ("When he learned the templars were coming, he filled his pickets with stones and walked into the lake") was very effective. Many books would have filled that story with fluff and dramatic flair, but it hits so much harder with its bluntness.

 

Isseya's character is a resounding success for me. During the end of the Fourth Blight and reading about Isseya's state, I couldn't help but think of Elrond and Aragorn's exchange: I give hope to men, I keep none for myself. What a wonderfully tragic transformation from the girl filled with awe and love at the beginning of the story.

 

I'll post more thoughts as they come, but I can appreciate how deeply you've delved into the lore to get things right here, so much so that I'm still not sure whether or not you were a massive fan before you had an inkling to pitch a DA novel.

[StammyFi]

Loved the book. Definately up to the same quality as other DA novels. Thank you Liane for your hard work!

Spoiler question:

I was confused what happened to Turab. I thought Dendi and Huble (?) went down with their griffons but afterwards it was explained that Dendi and Turab had died. So what happened to the great dwarf?

[godModeAlpha]

Thank  you for the book!

 

My body is ready.

[lrdrskillz]

Amazing book, I almost cried at the bittersweet ending! LOVED Isseya! I wish i can give her a hug 

[Agelico]

Just finished reading the book and wanted to say that it is amazing and I liked it a lot. Though in Origins we saw the Blight, it really ended before it began, so all its horrors remained something distant, something we didn't get to experience in full. And this book depicts it the way it needed to be with all the losses, hopeless struggle, doubts and sacrifices. It is even humbling in a way that our character stands in a row with ones like Garahel and Isseya. This novel is definitely a great addition to the Dragon Age universe, will urge all the Dragon Age players I know to read it!

[Griogro]

A question I have is if you were allowed to choose how the griffons died out, or if Bioware had already decided Blood Magic was involved. So basically, when you were writing the book did Bioware tell you that Blood Magic killed the griffons, or did they simply tell you that the griffons died and you got to choose how that happened?

[DanH]

Thanks so much for such a fantastic book! I couldn't put it down. I'd read about a quarter of it 2 nights ago, and then last night finished it in one binge read. I was really tired and went to go to sleep but couldn't so turned on the light and read and read until it was finished. It was so well written and I loved all of the characters. I really hope you do get an opportunity to write for Bioware again, I'll definitely be buying your books!

[Vespasian 91]

Just wanted to say last flight was brilliant really enjoyed it done in a single sitting couldn't put it down.

 If you get the chance please consider the story about Aeducan and the events that made him a paragon, but It would be grate to have novel focusing on the Dwarves no matter what the story.

 

Hope to see you write in the world again.

Thanks!

 

 

Hmm, how much can I answer this question without tipping my hand about alternative story ideas that have already been considered...

 

I'll say this: there are a ton of interesting possibilities in the DA world. You could tell thousands of stories in this world and barely start to scratch the surface.

I think it might be interesting to spend some time with the dwarves and explore some of the ramifications of their caste system and the constant tug of war vs. darkspawn over the Deep Roads. The way that golems are created in this world also offers some pretty powerful story potential, although I'd have to spend a while thinking of ways to differentiate and/or echo Shale's storyline without duplicating it too much.

 

[r1ck182]

I'm very late to the topic, I have read the book for some time now and I need to say that I really enjoyed reading it.

I hope to see more from Ms. Merciel into Thedas. Thank you for your great work with Last Flight.